The Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project records and preserves the voices of women
visual artists in Iowa reflecting on their lives and their artwork. In 1998, creator and director Jane Robinette began interviewing Iowa women artists about their experiences and art practices. The interviews cover family and personal history, education, development as an artist, artwork, creative process, influences, and more. The Daily Palette is pleased to present excerpts of the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project's 2008 updates that Robinette collected from the Project artists who were interviewed nine or ten years ago. Visit the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project's website.

MARIE C. COOKForgotten Wash, watercolor, 20" x 27"

Helen Marie Casey Cook was born in 1918, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She has two sisters, and grew up mostly in Cedar Falls other than a year or two early on in Georgia and Florida. She graduated from the Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) with a Kg-PRI certificate in 1938. She is now widowed, and has four grown children. Her specialties are watercolor painting and cut-paper silhouettes. She has done several commissioned paintings for local organizations and businesses. One of her favorite subjects is a large stone barn near Cedar Falls.

2008 Update: "I sold my house two years ago and moved to a retirement home. About a year after I moved I gave up driving, but one of my friends picks me up every Thursday to paint. I still love to do buildings and landscapes. Shortly after the move I was honored by the city as a Cedar Falls Treasure for my painting and silhouette work, and in April of last year I had a One-Woman Show at the center in New Hampton, Iowa. I am now 89 years and am slowing down. I have trained three other ladies in silhouette cutting."